Air-pump



A. SWENSEN.

AIR PUMP.

1,336,396. APPLICATION FILED-APR. 2l. ISIG. Apr. 6,

2 SHEETS-SHEET 1- A. SWENSEN.

AIR PUMP.

APPLICATIQN FILED APR.21.1916.

Patented Apr. 6, 1920, 2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

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j NITED STATES OFFICE.

ALFRED SWENSEN, OF CICERO, ILLINOIS, ASSIGNQR TO THE CABLE COMPANY, OFCHICAGO, ILLINOIS, A CGRFORATION OF ILLINOIS.

Aria-PUMP.

To all whom t may concern:

Be it known that l, ALFRED SwnNsEN, a citizen of the United States,residing at Cicero, in the county of Cook and State of Illinois, haveinvented. new and useful Improvements in Air-Pumps, of which thefollowing is a full, clear, concise, and exact description, referencebeing had tothe accompanying drawing, forming a part of thisspecification.

My invention relates to air-pumps.

Gne of the objects of my invention is to provide an improved air-pump,wl ich will be simple and compact in construction and quiet andeiiicient in operation.

Further objects will appear' from the detailed description to follow,taken in connection with the appended claims.

In the drawings,in which one embodiment of my invention is shown;

Figure 1 is a front elevation of my improved air-pump;

Fig. 2 is a horizontal section, substantially on the line 2 2 of Fig. 1;n

Fig. 3 is a vertical section of the pump, substantially on the line 3-3of .F 2;

Fig. 4 is a detailed sectional view, substantially on the line 4-4 of Fig. one of the inlets to the pump;

5 is a view of the fixed leaf-member of one of the bellows of the pump,showing the inlet-valve; and

Fig. 6 is an elevation of one of the bellows or' the Fig. 1.

Referring now to the drawings in detail, the air-pump shown comprises acuadrangular suction or wind chest 10 in the forni or' a box open atoppositeends, to the sides of which are secured four suction bellows, orexhausters, 11, and driving mechanism 12 for operating these exhausters11 to withdraw the air from the wind-chest 10. The wind-chest 10comprises four similar, substantially rectangular, trough likewallmembers 13, which are recessed or grooved at 14 to formcommunicating passages or channels, which passages .or channels arecovered by the bellows 11 to form the chamber of the wind-chest.

The wall-members 13 are recessed at their ends to receive the supportingbars 15, with which the bellows 11 form an air-tight joint.

The bellows 11 are similar in construction and the description of onewill suffice for all.

Specification of Letters Patent.

3, showing pump as viewed from the left in Patented Apr. 6, 1920.

Application filed April 21, 1916. Serial No. 92,604.

Each comprises a fixed leaf-member, or board, 16, suitably secured tothe adjacent wall-member 13 to form an air-tight joint therewith, and amovable connected to the leaf-member 16 by means of a reXible fabric 18.The fixed leaf-member 16 has a series of inlet-ports19, through whichthe air liows from the wind-chest to the interior of the bellows. A flapcheckvalve 20 prevents air from flowing out oiz the bellows 11 throughthe ports 19 as the bellows is collapsed. The movable leaf-member 17 isprovided with a series of ports 21, through which the air from thebellows escapes as the bellows is collapsed. A Hap check-valve 22prevents air from entering the bellows 11 through the ports 21 as thebellows expands.

The driving mechanism 12 comprises a belt-drive-wheel 23; a crank-shaft24, to which the drive wheel 23 is secured, having crank-arms 24a and acrank-pin 24h; four driving yokes 25, one for each of the bellows 11;and four bearing-blocks 26 of any suitable material, as bronze, one foreach of the yokes 25. Flach of these bearing-blocks 26 is provided withapproximately a half-bearing 26, for engagement with the crank-pin 24h,and is secured to its yolaze 25 in any suitable manner, as by a screw27. These bearing-blocks 26 are connected together in pairs by means offlexible straps 28 of suitable material, such as leather, secured to thebearing-blocks 26 by means of screws 29, each bearing-block 26 beingconnected to a bearing block directly opposite. These flexible strapsprevent disengagement of the bearing-blocks 26 from the crank-pin, andalso act as washers to vprevent end-knocking. By arranging thebearing-blocks in pairs, compactness is secured, as the crank-pin can bemade shorter than if they were not paired.

In order to relieve the straps 28 of the strain due to the resistance ofthe bellows to collapsing, the movable leaf-members 17 of the bellowsare connected together in pairs by means of U-shaped members 29,pivotally connected with the leaf-members by means of screws y29".Because of their U- shape, these members 29:L form spring-contractingmembers for holding the half-bearings 265- in engagement with thecrank-pin 24h. Fach driving yoke 25 is connected with its respectivebellows by means of a crossbar 30, which lies in a recess 31 in themovleaf-member 17,

. inlet-conduits.

able leaf-member of the bellows and which is held in place in thisrecess by means of metal bearing-plates or strips 32, secured to theleaf-member in'any suitable manner, as by screws 33. The crank-shaft 24is mounted in suitable bearings 34, secured to supporting-strips orplates 35 on opposite sides of the wind-chest. Spacing-blocks 36 may beplaced between the sides of the wind-chest and the supporting-strips toproperly position the latter. To prevent endwise movement of the shaft24, a collar 37 may be secured to the shaft by means of a set-screw 38.A ball-bearing collar 39 is positioned upon the shaft between the hub ofthe wheel 23 and the nearby supporting-strip 35. A bent wire spring 40,pivoted at 4l to the supporting-strip 35, bears on this collar 39 toprevent the shaft 24 from knocking in its bearing 34. The hooked end 42of this spring engages beneath a stud, or button, 43, to hold the springlirmly against the collar 39.

Air enters the wind-chest l0 through two vOne of these conduitscomprises the tubing 44, a curved nipple over which the tubing 44 lits,a sleeve 45a in which the curved nipple 45 lits, a tubular lining 46over which the sleeve 45 lits, and a hollow block 47 in which the lining46 lits. The tubular lining 46, the hollow block 47, and the fixedleaf-member 16 'of the bellows arel provided with registering openings49, 50, and'l, respectively, affording communication between theinterior of theV wind-chest and the tubular lining 46. The other conduitcomprises the tubing 52, which fits over the nipple 53, which. lits intothe block 54, which block is provided with this simultaneous operationofthe inlet and a passage affording communication between the interiorof the wind-chest and the nipple 53. The check-valves 20 and 22 aresubstantially the same, and the description of one will suflice forboth. Each comprises a sheet 56, of leather or other suitable liexiblematerial; a cross-bar 57, secured to one end of the sheet 56 (the otherend of the sheet 56 being secured to the leaf-member of the bellows inany suitable manner) a wire spring 59, the bent end 60 of which engagesthe cross-bar 57 to tend to hold the flexible sheet 56 taut; and thewire spring v6l, having one end secured to the leaf-member of thebellows, and the other end enga ging the flexible sheet 56 for closingthe valve.

In pumps of the bellows type, as now cons'tructed, the inlet and outletcheck-valves being controlled simply by thev existing pressures, theoutlet-valve opens -simultaneously with the closing of the inlet-valve,and this renders the operation noisy. To prevent outlet check-valves, anabutment 62 is projust before the bellows reaches the limit of itsexpanding movement. This abutment may take the form of a flexible lmetalstrip, having a bent-over en d V63 located Vinv position to engage theoutlet flap check-valve, as shown in Figs. l and 6. The end 63 engagesthe check-valve and holds it closed until the corresponding inletcheck-valve has been seated, so that the two valves are not operatedsimultaneously. This abutment also prevents any sudden popping open ofthe outlet check-valve, as the valve can start to open only as fast asthe movement of the movable leaf-member of the bellows away from the end63 will permit. Also, the fact that this outlet-valve is closed untilsome time after the inlet-valve is seated will tend to deaden the noisedue to the seating of the inlet-valve.

Any suitable lubrication device, suoli as a grease-cup 64 and tube 64a,may be provided for lubricating the crank-shaft 24. For securing thepumpto a support, a plurality of L-shaped clips 65 may be secured to thewind-chest 10. These clips are formed with key-shaped slots 66 forcooperation with headed 'supporting-devices, such as screws. Thesescrews are located on the support in position to enter the enlarged partof the key-shaped slots, after which the pump is slipped down to causethe Shanksl of the screws to enter the narrower part of the key-shapedslot. ln this position, the heads of the screws will prevent the clipsfrom becoming disengaged from the screws. After, the clips have beenslipped over the screws, the latter'may be tightened up, to hold thepump securely in position'. v, y The operation of the pump is asfollows: The belt-drive-wheel 23 is driven by power from any suitablesource, causing the crankshaft 24 to rotate to reciprocate the drivingyokes 25 to cause the bellows 1l to be alternately expanded andcollapsed. As each bellows expands, a partial vacuum is created therein,and air flows in through the tubing 44 and 52 to the wind-chest l0,through the inlet-ports 19, past the inletvalve 20, to the interior ofthe bellows. As each lbellows "collapses,- the pressure in the bellowslrises above that in the wind-chest, causing the inlet-valve v2O to seatand prevent the escape of air from` the bellows into the lwind-chest.yThe outlet check-valve 22 then moves away from the abutment 62, andl theair within' the. bellows is forced Vout through the ports v21'and pastthe valve22. By means of the yoke Vconnection between the bellows andthe crank-shaft, the driving force is transmitted equally to oppositesides of the movable leaf-members of the pumpbellows. l

It will be seen that a pump of this construction, with the polygonalwind-chest, the bellows mounted 'on the outer Sides of the chest, andthe crank-shaft extending within the chest permits the largest possiblecapacity of pump-bellows in a given space, and makes an extremelycompact construction.

In musical instruments of the class with which these pumps are used,space and compactness are important, since the dimensions of theinstrument case'may not be increased, in any direction, and the pumpmust be fitted into the case along with a considerable amount of othermechanism. It is also important that the pump-bellows have acomparatively large area in order that the capacity of the pump may besufficient when the bellows are driven at a comparatively slow speed,this slow speed being highly desirable in order to prolong the life andemciency of the pump and to insure proper lubrication. Ihese twodesirable features (comparatively large area of pump-bellows andcompactness) are obtained by arranging the pump-bellowson the outside ofthe wind-chest.

In a construction in which the bellows are arranged inside thewind-chest, the bellows must be circumscribed by the inside dimensionsof the wind-chest. Furthermore, any one of the pump-bellows may notextend from corner to corner inside such a windchest but must terminateenough short of one corner to permit the bellows of another side tooccupy, and operate in, that corner, or, in other words, clearance mustbe provided between the free end of the movable leaf-member of onebellows and the pivoted end of the movable leaf-member of an adjacentbellows. Furthermore, the completed pump construction would involveadding the thickness of the polygonal wind-chest all around thisarrangement of pump-bellows.

I-Iaving thus described my invention what I claim as new and desire tosecure by Letters Patent is l. An air-pump comprising a Vrotatablecrank-shaft, a wind-chest extending around the crank portion of saidshaft, a plurality of cxhausters supported on the outside of saidwind-chest and in communication therewith, and driving` connectionsbetween each exhauster and the crank-shaft comprising a yoke embracingthe wind-chest for transmitting force from the crank-shaft to theexhauster.

2. An air-pump comprising a rotatable shaft, a polygonal windchestextending around said shaft, a plurality of bellows one secured to eachside of the wind-chest, and driving connections between said shaft andbellows, each side of said wind-chest comprising a member having agroove, the grooves of adjacent sides being in communication with eachother, said bellows each having a fixed leaf-member covering one of saidgrooves and said bellows having ports therein affording communicationbetween said grooves and said bellows.

3. An air-pump comprising bellows having a movable leaf-member and inletand outlet ports, a check-valve movable with said leaf-member forpreventing air from entering said bellows through said outletport, anabutment located in position to close said check-valve as the bellowsexpands, and a second check-valve for preventing air from escaping fromsaid bellows through said inlet-port.

4. An air-pump comprising a bellows having a movable leaf-member andinlet and outlet ports, a check-valve movable with said leaf-member forpreventing air from entering said bellows through said outletport, ayielding'abutment located in position to held said check-valve closedfor a time as the bellows starts to collapse, and a second check-valvefor preventing air from escaping from said bellows through saidinlet-port.

5. An air-pump comprising a bellows having a movable leaf-member andinlet and outlet ports, a check-valve movable with said leaf-member forpreventing air from entering said bellows through said outletport, ayielding abutment located in position to hold said check-valve closedfor a time as the bellows starts to collapse, and a second check-valvefor preventing air from escaping from said bellows through saidinlet-port, said yieldingV abutment being positioned to engage thecheck-valve before the bellows is fully expanded.

6. An air-pump comprising a polygonal wind-chest, a rotatable shaftcentrally located with respect to said wind-chest, a plurality ofbellows, one secured to each side of the wind-chest on the outsidethereof, a plurality of air-pressure-operated checkvalves, one for eachbellows, for controlling the communication betweensaid wind-chest andsaid bellows, respectively, and driving connections between said shaftand bellows.

7. in air-pump comprising a. rotataole crank-shaft having a crank-pin, apair et bellows mounted on opposite sides of said shaft, eac-h bellowshaving a leaf-member movable toward and from said shaft, drivingconnections between said shaft and said movable leaf-members, cachdriving connection comprising a sectional bearing engaging thecrank-pin, said sectional bearings being located substantially oppositeearh other, and means connecting the movable leaf-members for holdingthe sectional bearings in engagement with the crank-pin.

S. Two opposed pumpers; a revoluble shaft having crank therewith andbetween the said two pumpers; pitmen from said crank to each saidpamper; and a connecting member between the said two pumpers, the endsof said connecting member attached to both said pumpers, the positionsof said ends being` on a line extended through said shaft, theintermediate part of said connecting member offset to one side of thesaid shaft.

9. An air-pump comprising a polygonal wind-chest and a plurality ofbellows-inembcrs, one for each side of said wind-chest; said wind-chestcomprising a plurality of substantially flat rectangular chamberedmembers united end to end to form a boxlike structure open at oppositesides, said rectangular members each being provided with an openchannel, said channels being in communication with each other, and aplurality of substantially fiat cover-members for covering saidchannels, respectively.

l0. An air-pump*comprising a polygonal windechest, a plurality ofbellows-members, one for each sideof said wind-chest, and a plurality ofcover-members, one for each side of said wind-chest; said wind-chestcomprising a plurality of substantially flat rectangular members unitedend to end to form a box-like structure open at opposite sides, saidrectangular members being provided with outwardly-open channels, saidchannels being in communication with each other, each of saidcover-members comprising a substantially fiat member secured on theoutside of said wind-chest over one of said channels. Y Y

11. An air-pump comprising a polygonal wind-chest and a pluralityofbellows-members, one for each side of said wind-chest; said wind-chestcomprising a plurality of substantially flat rectangular membersarranged end to end to form a box-like structure open at opposite sides,each of said rectangular Vmembers being provided with an' open channeland each channel being covered by a ybellows-member.

l2. An air-pump comprising a rotatable crank-shaft, a wind-chest'comprising two chambers located on opposite sides of said crank-shaft,two eXha-usters, and driving connections 1 between the crank-shaft andeach of said exhausters; each of said chambers lying between saidcrank-shaft and one of said exhausters, and each chamber being incommunication with one of said eX! hausters.

13. An air-pump comprising a rotatable crank-shaft, a wind-chestcomprisingv a plu- 14. An air-pump comprising a rotatableYcrank-shafthaving a crank-pin, a pairL of bellows mounted on oppositesides of said shaft, each bellows having a leaf-,member movable towardand from said shaft, driving connections between the crank-pin andmovable leaf-membersV respectively,. each driving connection comprisinga sectional bearing engaging the. crank-pin, the' scctional bearingsbeing located substantially opposite each other, Aand spring meansforholding the sectional bearings in engagement with the cranlcpin. Y

Vl5. An air-pump comprising a rotatable crank-shaft having a crank-pin,a pair of bellows mounted on Aopposite sides of said shaft, each bellowshaving a leaf-member movable towardA and from said shaft, drivingconnections between the cranlcpin and said movable leaf-membersrespectively, each driving connection comprising a sectional bea-ringengaging the crank-pin, the sectional bearings being locatedsubstantially opposite veach other, and spring means connecting themovable leaf-members for holding the sectional bearings in engagement.with the crank-pin.y Y

In witness whereof I have hereunto subscribed my. name.

ALFRED VSil/VENSEN;

It is hereby oertied that in Letters Patent No. 1,336,396, granted April6, 1920, upon the application of Alfred S'Wensen, of Cicero, Illinois,for an improvement in Air-Pumps, errors appear in the printedspecification requiring correction as follows: Page l, line 105, afterthe Word spring strike out the hyphen; same page, 'lines 105-106,between the Words eontraoting" and members insert a hyphen; page 3, line2, after the Word chest insert a Comma; same page, line 9, after the andthat the said Letters Patent should be read With these correctionstherein that the same Word increased strike out the Comma and insert theWord materially,

may conform to the record of the case in the Patent Ollice.

Signed and sealed this 22d day of June, A. D., 1920.

[SEAL] M. H. COULSTON,

Acng Commissioner o] Patents. Cl. 230-2.

Correctonsn Letters Patent No.1,336,396.

